Inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cell with multiple metamorphic layers

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes multi-junction solar cell structures that include two or more graded interlayers.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/485,121, filed Sep. 12, 2014, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/401,181, filed Feb. 21, 2012, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/271,192 filed Nov. 14, 2008, and of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/023,772, filed Jan. 31, 2008, which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,142 filed Sep. 24, 2007, and of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007. The contents of the earlier applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/844,673 filed Jul. 27, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/813,408 filed Jun. 10, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/775,946 filed May 7, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/756,926, filed Apr. 8, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/730,018, filed Mar. 23, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/716,814, filed Mar. 3, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/708,361, filed Feb. 18, 2010.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/637,241, filed Dec. 14, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/623,134, filed Nov. 20, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/544,001, filed Aug. 19, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/401,137, 12/401,157, and 12/401,189, filed Mar. 10, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/389,053, filed Feb. 19, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/367,991, filed Feb. 9, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/362,201, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,960,201; Ser. No. 12/362,213; and Ser. No. 12/362,225, filed Jan. 29, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/337,014 filed Dec. 17, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,785,989, and Ser. No. 12/337,043 filed Dec. 17, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/271,127 and Ser. No. 12/271,192 filed Nov. 14, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/267,812 filed Nov. 10, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/258,190 filed Oct. 24, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/253,051 filed Oct. 16, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/190,449, filed Aug. 12, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,741,146, and its divisional patent application Ser. No. 12/816,205, filed Jun. 15, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,039,291.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/187,477, filed Aug. 7, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/218,558 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/218,582 filed Jul. 16, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/123,864 filed May 20, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/102,550 filed Apr. 14, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. Ser. No. 12/047,944, filed Mar. 13, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/023,772, filed Jan. 31, 2008.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/956,069, filed Dec. 13, 2007, and its divisional application Ser. No. 12/187,454 filed Aug. 7, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,727,795.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/860,142 and 11/860,183 filed Sep. 24, 2007.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/445,793 filed Jun. 2, 2006.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/500,053 filed Aug. 7, 2006, and its divisional application Ser. No. 12/417,367 filed Apr. 2, 2009, and Ser. No. 12/549,340 filed Aug. 27, 2009.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Parts of this disclosure were made with government support under Contract No. FA9453-06-C-0345 awarded by the U.S. Air Force. The government may have certain rights in the invention.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to multijunction solar cells based on III-V semiconductor compounds, and to fabrication processes and devices for multijunction (e.g., five and six junction) solar cell structures including a metamorphic layer. Some embodiments of such devices are also known as inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells.

2. Description of the Related Art

Solar power from photovoltaic cells, also called solar cells, has been predominantly provided by silicon semiconductor technology. In the past several years, however, high-volume manufacturing of III-V compound semiconductor multijunction solar cells for space applications has accelerated the development of such technology not only for use in space but also for terrestrial solar power applications. Compared to silicon, III-V compound semiconductor multijunction devices have greater energy conversion efficiencies and generally more radiation resistance, although they tend to be more complex to manufacture. Typical commercial II-V compound semiconductor multijunction solar cells have energy efficiencies that exceed 27% under one sun, air mass 0 (AM0), illumination, whereas even the most efficient silicon technologies generally reach only about 18% efficiency under comparable conditions. Under high solar concentration (e.g., 500.times), commercially available III-V compound semiconductor multijunction solar cells in terrestrial applications (at AM1.5D) have energy efficiencies that exceed 37%. The higher conversion efficiency of III-V compound semiconductor solar cells compared to silicon solar cells is in part based on the ability to achieve spectral splitting of the incident radiation through the use of a plurality of photovoltaic regions with different band gap energies, and accumulating the current from each of the regions.

Typical III-V compound semiconductor solar cells are fabricated on a semiconductor wafer in vertical, multijunction structures. The individual solar cells or wafers are then disposed in horizontal arrays, with the individual solar cells connected together in an electrical series circuit. The shape and structure of an array, as well as the number of cells it contains, are determined in part by the desired output voltage and current.

Inverted metamorphic solar cell structures based on III-V compound semiconductor layers, such as described in M. W. Wanlass et al., Lattice Mismatched Approaches for High Performance, III-V Photovoltaic Energy Converters (Conference Proceedings of the 31.sup.st IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Jan. 3-7, 2005, IEEE Press, 2005), present an important conceptual starting point for the development of future commercial high efficiency solar cells. However, the materials and structures for a number of different layers of the cell proposed and described in such reference present a number of practical difficulties relating to the appropriate choice of materials and fabrication steps.

Prior to the disclosures described in various ones or combinations of this and the related applications noted above, the materials and fabrication steps disclosed in the prior art have various drawbacks and disadvantages in producing a commercially viable inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cell using commercially established fabrication processes.

SUMMARY

Briefly, and in general terms, the present disclosure provides multi-junction solar cells utilizing two or more metamorphic layers. Thus, for example, vertical stacks of three or more subcells can include two or more metamorphic grading interlayers, each of which provides a transition in lattice constant between lattice mismatched subcells. Further, in some cases, the use of more than two metamorphic grading interlayer may be utilized. In general, it can be advantageous for the band gap of each particular graded interlayer to remain constant throughout its thickness.

In some instances, the metamorphic grading interlayers are composed of AlGaInAs with compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs, for example, having a monotonically or step graded changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure between lattice mismatched subcells. In some cases, the structure helps reduce or minimize the occurrence of threading dislocations.

Significant improvement in conversion efficiency can be obtained for devices in which one graded interlayer has a band gap of about 1.5 eV-1.6 eV and a second graded interlayer has a band gap of 1.1 eV. In some cases, the first graded interlayer has a band gap of 1.5 eV (±3%) or 1.6 eV (±3%), and the second graded interlayer has a band gap of 1.1 eV (±3%). Thus, in some cases, the first graded interlayer has a band gap in the range of 1.5 eV-1.65 eV.

For example, in one aspect, the present disclosure describes a multijunction solar cell that includes an upper portion including at least one solar subcell; a first graded interlayer, a middle portion including at least one solar subcell; a second graded interlayer; and a lower portion including at least one solar subcell. The first graded interlayer can be composed, for example, of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As with a step graded changing lattice constant, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1, and wherein the first graded interlayer has a band gap in a range of 1.5 eV-1.65 eV that is constant throughout its thickness such that the first graded interlayer provides a transition in lattice constant between a particular solar subcell in the upper portion and a particular solar subcell in the middle portion that is lattice mismatched to the particular solar subcell in the upper portion. The second graded interlayer can be composed, for example, of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As with a step graded changing lattice constant, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1, and wherein the second graded interlayer has a band gap in a range of 1.1 eV+3% that is constant throughout its thickness such that the second graded interlayer provides a transition in lattice constant between a specific solar subcell in the middle portion and a specific solar subcell in the lower portion that is lattice mismatched to the specific solar subcell in the middle portion.

Additional solar subcells can be provided in one or more of the upper, middle or lower portions of the solar cell. Further, in some implementations, additional graded interlayers may be present.

Thus, in another aspect, the present disclosure provides a multijunction solar cell including an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, and the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; and a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap. A first graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said third solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap. A fourth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A second graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said fourth solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a sixth band gap greater than said fifth band gap; and a lower fifth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said lower fifth subcell having a seventh band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fourth subcell.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a five junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a multijunction solar cell including an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, and the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap. A first graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said second solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a third band gap greater than said second band gap. A third solar subcell is provided adjacent to said first graded interlayer and having a fourth band gap smaller than said second band gap such that said third subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said second subcell. A second graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said third solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a fifth band gap greater than said fourth band gap. A fourth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a sixth band gap smaller than said fourth band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A third graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said fourth solar subcell; said third graded interlayer having a seventh band gap greater than said sixth band gap. A lower fifth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said third graded interlayer, said lower fifth subcell having a eighth band gap smaller than said seventh band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fourth subcell.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a six junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a multijunction solar cell including an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, and the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap; a first graded interlayer adjacent to said third solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap; and a fourth solar subcell adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell; a second graded interlayer adjacent to said fourth solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a sixth band gap greater than said fifth band gap; a fifth solar subcell adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said fifth subcell having a seventh band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fourth subcell; a third graded interlayer adjacent to said fifth solar subcell; said third graded interlayer having a eighth band gap greater than said seventh band gap; and a lower sixth solar subcell adjacent to said third graded interlayer, said lower sixth subcell having a ninth band gap smaller than said eighth band gap such that said sixth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fifth subcell.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a five junction solar cell utilizing one metamorphic layer. More particularly the present disclosure provides a multijunction solar cell including an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, and the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; and a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap. A graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said third solar subcell; said graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap. A fourth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A lower fifth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said fourth subcell, said lower fifth subcell having a sixth band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice matched with respect to said fourth subcell.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a six junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a multijunction solar cell including an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, and the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; and a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap. A first graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said third solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap. A fourth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A fifth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said fourth subcell, said fifth subcell having a sixth band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice matched with respect to said fourth subcell. A second graded interlayer is provided adjacent to said fifth solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a seventh band gap greater than said sixth band gap. A lower sixth solar subcell is provided adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said lower sixth subcell having a eighth band gap smaller than said sixth band gap such that said sixth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fifth subcell.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a method of forming a five junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a solar cell including providing a first substrate; forming an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap on the first substrate, the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; forming a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; and forming a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap. A first graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said third solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap. A fourth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A second graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said fourth solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a sixth band gap greater than said fifth band gap; and a lower fifth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said lower fifth subcell having a seventh band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fourth subcell. A surrogate substrate is mounted on top of lower fifth solar subcell; and the first substrate is removed.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of forming a five junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a multijunction solar cell including providing a first substrate; forming an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; forming a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap. A first graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said second solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a third band gap greater than said second band gap. A third solar subcell is formed adjacent to said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap smaller than said second band gap such that said third subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said second subcell. A second graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said third solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a fifth band gap greater than said fourth band gap. A fourth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a sixth band gap smaller than said fourth band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A third graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said fourth solar subcell; said third graded interlayer having a seventh band gap greater than said sixth band gap. A lower fifth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said third graded interlayer, said lower fifth subcell having a eighth band gap smaller than said seventh band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fourth subcell.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a method of forming a six junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a multijunction solar cell including providing a first substrate; forming an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap on the first substrate, the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; forming a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; forming a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap; forming a first graded interlayer adjacent to said third solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap; forming a fourth solar subcell adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell; forming a second graded interlayer adjacent to said fourth solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a sixth band gap greater than said fifth band gap; forming a fifth solar subcell adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said fifth subcell having a seventh band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fourth subcell; forming a third graded interlayer adjacent to said fifth solar subcell; said third graded interlayer having a eighth band gap greater than said seventh band gap; and forming a lower sixth solar subcell adjacent to said third graded interlayer, said lower sixth subcell having a ninth band gap smaller than said eighth band gap such that said sixth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fifth subcell. A surrogate substrate is mounted on top of lower sixth solar subcell; and the first substrate is removed.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a method of forming a five junction solar cell utilizing one metamorphic layer. More particularly the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a multijunction solar cell including providing a first substrate; forming an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap, and the base-emitter junction of the upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; forming a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; and forming a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap. A graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said third solar subcell; said graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap. A fourth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A lower fifth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said fourth subcell, said lower fifth subcell having a sixth band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice matched with respect to said fourth subcell.

In another aspect the present disclosure provides a method of forming a six junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers. More particularly the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a multijunction solar cell including providing a first substrate; forming an upper first solar subcell being a homojunction; forming a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; and forming a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap. A first graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said third solar subcell; said first graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap. A fourth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said first graded interlayer, said fourth subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said fourth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third subcell. A fifth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said fourth subcell, said fifth subcell having a sixth band gap smaller than said fifth band gap such that said fifth subcell is lattice matched with respect to said fourth subcell. A second graded interlayer is formed adjacent to said fifth solar subcell; said second graded interlayer having a seventh band gap greater than said sixth band gap. A lower sixth solar subcell is formed adjacent to said second graded interlayer, said lower sixth subcell having a eighth band gap smaller than said sixth band gap such that said sixth subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said fifth subcell.

In some embodiments, the base and emitter of the upper first solar subcell is composed of AlGaInP.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the base of the upper first solar subcell is equal to or greater than 2.05 eV.

In some embodiments, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is composed of a first region in which the doping is graded from 3×10¹⁸ to 1×10₁₈ free carriers per cubic centimeter, and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant at 1×10¹⁷ free carriers per cubic centimeter.

In some embodiments, the first region of the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is directly adjacent to a window layer.

In some embodiments, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of 80 nm.

In some embodiments, there is a spacer layer between the emitter and the base of the upper first solar subcell. In some embodiments, the spacer layer between the emitter and the base of the upper first solar subcell is composed of unintentionally doped AlGaInP.

In some embodiments, the base of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of less than 400 nm.

In some embodiments, the base of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of 260 nm.

In some embodiments, the emitter section of the upper first solar subcell has a free carrier density of 3×10¹⁸ to 9×10¹⁸ per cubic centimeter.

In some embodiments, in particular in connection with a five junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers, the band gap of the first graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV throughout the thickness of the first graded interlayer, and the band gap of the second graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV throughout the thickness of the second graded interlayer. More specifically, in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a solar cell using an MOCVD process, wherein the first and second graded interlayers are composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, and are formed in the MOCVD reactor so that they are compositionally graded to lattice match the third subcell on one side and the fourth subcell on the other side, and the fourth subcell on one side and the bottom fifth subcell on the other side, respectively, with the values for x and y computed and the composition of the first and second graded interlayers determined so that as the layers are grown in the MOCVD reactor, the band gap of the first graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV throughout the thickness of the first graded interlayer, and the band gap of the second graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV throughout the thickness of the second graded interlayer.

In some embodiments, in particular in connection with a five junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers, the upper subcell is composed of an AlGaInP emitter layer and an AlGaInP base layer, the second subcell is composed of AlGaAs emitter layer and a AlGaAs base layer, the third subcell is composed of a GaInP emitter layer and a GaAs base layer, the fourth subcell is composed of a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer, and the bottom fifth subcell is composed of a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer.

In some embodiments, in particular in connection with a five junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers, the lower fifth subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 0.85 to 0.95 eV, the fourth subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 1.0 to 1.2 eV; the third subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 1.3 to 1.5 eV, the second subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 1.65 to 1.80 eV and the upper subcell has a band gap in the range of 1.9 to 2.2 eV.

In some implementations, it is advantageous for the band gap of the first graded interlayer to be substantially constant at approximately 1.6 eV and the band gap of the second graded interlayer to be substantially constant at approximately 1.1 eV. In some embodiments, in particular in connection with a six junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers, the band gap of the first graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV or 1.6 eV throughout the thickness of the first graded interlayer, the band gap of the second graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV or 1.6 eV throughout the thickness of the second graded interlayer, and the band gap of the third graded interlayer remains constant at 1.1 eV throughout the thickness of the third graded interlayer.

In some embodiments, in particular in connection with a six junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers, the upper subcell is composed of an AlGaInP emitter layer and an AlGaInP base layer, the second subcell is composed of AlGaAs emitter layer and a AlGaAs base layer, the third subcell is composed of a GaInP emitter layer and a GaAs base layer, the fourth subcell is composed of a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer, the fifth subcell is composed of a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer, and the bottom sixth subcell is composed of a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer.

In some embodiments, in particular in connection with a six junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers, the lower sixth subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 0.60 to 0.70 eV, the fifth subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 0.85 to 0.95 eV the fourth subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 1.0 to 1.2 eV; the third subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 1.3 to 1.5 eV, the second subcell has a band gap in the range of approximately 1.65 to 1.80 eV and the upper subcell has a band gap in the range of 1.9 to 2.2 eV.

Various methods are described for fabricating solar cells including formation of the graded interlayers.

Some implementations of the present disclosure may incorporate or implement fewer of the aspects and features noted in the foregoing summaries.

Additional aspects, advantages, and novel features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure, including the following detailed description as well as by practice of the disclosure. While the disclosure is described below with reference to preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art having access to the teachings herein will recognize additional applications, modifications and embodiments in other fields, which are within the scope of the disclosure as disclosed and claimed herein and with respect to which the disclosure could be of utility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better and more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a graph representing the band gap of certain binary materials and their lattice constants;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of one embodiment of a multijunction solar cell after an initial stage of fabrication including the deposition of certain semiconductor layers on the growth substrate;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2A after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2B after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2C after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 2E is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2D after the next process step;

FIG. 2F is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2E after the next process step in which a surrogate substrate is attached;

FIG. 2G is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2F after the next process step in which the original substrate is removed;

FIG. 2H is another cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2G with the surrogate substrate on the bottom of the Figure;

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of an embodiment of the present disclosure representing a five junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers after an initial stage of fabrication including the deposition of certain semiconductor layers on the growth substrate;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 3A after the next sequence of process steps in which the lower two subcells are grown;

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the a solar cell of an embodiment of the present disclosure representing a five junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers after an initial stage of fabrication including the deposition of certain semiconductor layers on the growth substrate;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a solar cell of an embodiment of the present disclosure representing a six junction solar cell utilizing three metamorphic layers after an initial stage of fabrication including the deposition of certain semiconductor layers on the growth substrate;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a solar cell of another embodiment of the present disclosure representing a five junction solar cell utilizing one metamorphic layer after an initial stage of fabrication including the deposition of certain semiconductor layers on the growth substrate;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a solar cell of another embodiment of the present disclosure representing a six junction solar cell utilizing two metamorphic layers after an initial stage of fabrication including the deposition of certain semiconductor layers on the growth substrate;

FIG. 7 is a simplified cross-sectional view of the solar cell of either FIG. 2H, 3B, 3C, 4, 5, or 6 after the next sequence of process steps in which a metallization layer is deposited over the contact layer, and a surrogate substrate attached;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 7 after the next sequence of process steps in which the growth substrate is removed;

FIG. 9 is a another cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 7, similar to that of FIG. 8, but here oriented and depicted with the surrogate substrate at the bottom of the figure;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 9 after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 10 after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 11 after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 13A is a top plan view of a wafer in one embodiment of the present disclosure in which the solar cells are fabricated;

FIG. 13B is a bottom plan view of a wafer in the embodiment of FIG. 13A;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 12 after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 14 after the next sequence of process steps;

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the wafer of FIG. 15 depicting the surface view of the trench etched around the cell in one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 15 after the next sequence of process steps in one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 17 after the next sequence of process steps in one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 17 after the next sequence of process steps in another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 20A is a graph of the doping profile of the emitter and base layers of the top subcell in the solar cell according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 20B is a graph of the doping profile of the emitter and base layers of one or more of the middle subcells in the solar cell according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a graph representing the Al, Ga and In mole fractions versus the Al to In mole fraction in a AlGaInAs material system that is necessary to achieve a constant 1.5 eV band gap;

FIG. 22 is a diagram representing the relative concentration of Al, In, and Ga in an AlGaInAs material system needed to have a constant band gap with various designated values (ranging from 0.4 eV to 2.1 eV) as represented by curves on the diagram;

FIG. 23 is a graph representing the Ga mole fraction to the Al to In mole fraction in a AlGaInAs material system that is necessary to achieve a constant 1.51 eV band gap;

FIG. 24 is a graph that depicts the current and voltage characteristics of a test solar cell with the doped emitter structure of FIG. 20A according to the present disclosure, compared to a solar cell with a normally doped emitter structure; and

FIG. 25 is a graph that depicts the external quantum efficiency (EQE) as a function of wavelength of a multijunction solar cell with the doped emitter structure of FIG. 20A according to the present disclosure, compared with that of a solar cell with a normally doped emitter structure.

FIG. 26 is a graph that depicts band gap combinations versus cell conversion efficiency for multi-junction solar cell devices including two graded interlayers each of which has a substantially constant band gap.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

“III-V compound semiconductor” refers to a compound semiconductor formed using at least one elements from group III of the periodic table and at least one element from group V of the periodic table. III-V compound semiconductors include binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds. Group UI includes boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In) and thallium (T). Group V includes nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi).

“Band gap” refers to an energy difference (e.g., in electron volts (eV)) separating the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band of a semiconductor material.

“Compound semiconductor” refers to a semiconductor formed using two or more chemical elements.

“Graded interlayer” (or “grading interlayer”)—see “metamorphic layer.”

“Inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cell” or “IMM solar cell” refers to a solar cell in which the subcells are deposited or grown on a substrate in a “reverse” sequence such that the higher band gap subcells, which would normally be the “top” subcells facing the solar radiation in the final deployed configuration, are deposited or grown on a growth substrate prior to depositing or growing the lower band gap subcells.

“Layer” refers to a relatively planar sheet or thickness of semiconductor or other material. The layer may be deposited or grown, e.g., by epitaxial or other techniques.

“Lattice mismatched” refers to two adjacently disposed materials having different lattice constants from one another.

“Metamorphic layer” or “graded interlayer” refers to a layer that achieves a gradual transition in lattice constant generally throughout its thickness in a semiconductor structure.

“Multijunction solar cell” refers to a solar cell containing two or more discrete and distinct p-n junctions, each of which may be tuned to a different wavelength of light.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Details of the present invention will now be described including exemplary aspects and embodiments thereof. Referring to the drawings and the following description, like reference numbers are used to identify like or functionally similar elements, and are intended to illustrate major features of exemplary embodiments in a highly simplified diagrammatic manner. Moreover, the drawings are not intended to depict every feature of the actual embodiment nor the relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and are not drawn to scale.

The basic concept of fabricating an inverted metamorphic multijunction (IMM) solar cell is to grow the subcells of the solar cell on a substrate in a “reverse” sequence. That is, the high band gap subcells (i.e. subcells with band gaps in the range of 1.8 to 2.2 eV), which would normally be the “top” subcells facing the solar radiation, are grown epitaxially on a semiconductor growth substrate, such as for example GaAs or Ge, and such subcells are therefore lattice matched to such substrate. One or more lower band gap middle subcells (i.e. with band gaps in the range of 1.2 to 1.8 eV) can then be grown on the high band gap subcells.

At least one lower subcell is formed over the middle subcell such that the at least one lower subcell is substantially lattice mismatched with respect to the growth substrate and such that the at least one lower subcell has a third lower band gap (i.e. a band gap in the range of 0.7 to 1.2 eV). A surrogate substrate or support structure is then attached or provided over the “bottom” or substantially lattice mismatched lower subcell, and the growth semiconductor substrate is subsequently removed. (The growth substrate may then subsequently be re-used for the growth of a second and subsequent solar cells).

A variety of different features of inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells are disclosed in the related applications noted above. Some, many or all of such features may be included in the structures and processes associated with the solar cells of the present disclosure. However, more particularly, the present disclosure is directed to the fabrication of a five or six junction inverted metamorphic solar cell using either one, two or three different metamorphic layers, all grown on a single growth substrate. In the present disclosure, the resulting construction may include four, five, or six subcells, with band gaps in the range of 1.8 to 2.2 eV (or higher) for the top subcell, and 1.3 to 1.8 eV, 0.9 to 1.2 eV for the middle subcells, and 0.6 to 0.8 eV, for the bottom subcell, respectively.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that in addition to the one or two different metamorphic layers discussed in the present disclosure, additional types of semiconductor layers within the cell are also within the scope of the present invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a graph representing the band gap of certain binary materials and their lattice constants. The band gap and lattice constants of ternary materials are located on the lines drawn between typical associated binary materials (such as the ternary material AlGaAs being located between the GaAs and AlAs points on the graph, with the band gap of the ternary material lying between 1.42 eV for GaAs and 2.16 eV for AlAs depending upon the relative amount of the individual constituents). Thus, depending upon the desired band gap, the material constituents of ternary materials can be appropriately selected for growth.

The lattice constants and electrical properties of the layers in the semiconductor structure are preferably controlled by specification of appropriate reactor growth temperatures and times, and by use of appropriate chemical composition and dopants. The use of a vapor deposition method, such as Organo Metallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (OMVPE), Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), or other vapor deposition methods for the reverse growth may enable the layers in the monolithic semiconductor structure forming the cell to be grown with the required thickness, elemental composition, dopant concentration and grading and conductivity type.

The present disclosure is directed to a growth process using a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process in a standard, commercially available reactor suitable for high volume production. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to the materials and fabrication steps that are particularly suitable for producing commercially viable inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells using commercially available equipment and established high-volume fabrication processes, as contrasted with merely academic expositions of laboratory or experimental results.

In order to provide appropriate background FIG. 2A through 2H depicts the sequence of steps in forming a four junction solar cell solar cell generally as set forth in parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/271,192 filed Nov. 14, 2008, herein incorporated by reference.

FIG. 2A depicts the sequential formation of the three subcells A, B and C on a GaAs growth substrate. More particularly, there is shown a substrate 101, which is preferably gallium arsenide (GaAs), but may also be germanium (Ge) or other suitable material. For GaAs, the substrate is preferably a 15.degree. off-cut substrate, that is to say, its surface is orientated 15.degree. off the (100) plane towards the (111)A plane, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/047,944, filed Mar. 13, 2008.

In the case of a Ge substrate, a nucleation layer (not shown) is deposited directly on the substrate 101. On the substrate, or over the nucleation layer (in the case of a Ge substrate), a buffer layer 102 and an etch stop layer 103 are further deposited. In the case of GaAs substrate, the buffer layer 102 is preferably GaAs. In the case of Ge substrate, the buffer layer 102 is preferably GaInAs. A contact layer 104 of GaAs is then deposited on layer 103, and a window layer 105 of AlInP is deposited on the contact layer. The subcell A, consisting of an n+ emitter layer 106 and a p-type base layer 107, is then epitaxially deposited on the window layer 105. The subcell A is generally lattice matched to the growth substrate 101.

It should be noted that the multijunction solar cell structure could be formed by any suitable combination of group III to V elements listed in the periodic table subject to lattice constant and band gap requirements, wherein the group II includes boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and thallium (T). The group IV includes carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and tin (Sn). The group V includes nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), and bismuth (Bi).

In one embodiment, the emitter layer 106 is composed of GaInP and the base layer 107 is composed of AlGaInP. In some embodiments, more generally, the base-emitter junction may be a heterojunction. In other embodiments, the base layer may be composed of (Al)GaInP, where the aluminum or Al term in parenthesis in the preceding formula means that Al is an optional constituent, and in this instance may be used in an amount ranging from 0% to 30%. The doping profile of the emitter and base layers 106 and 107 according to the present invention will be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 20.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the base layer 107 is 1.91 eV or greater.

Subcell A will ultimately become the “top” subcell of the inverted metamorphic structure after completion of the process steps according to the present invention to be described hereinafter.

On top of the base layer 107 a back surface field (“BSF”) layer 108 preferably p+ AlGaInP is deposited and used to reduce recombination loss.

The BSF layer 108 drives minority carriers from the region near the base/BSF interface surface to minimize the effect of recombination loss. In other words, the BSF layer 18 reduces recombination loss at the backside of the solar subcell A and thereby reduces the recombination in the base.

On top of the BSF layer 108 a sequence of heavily doped p-type and n-type layers 109 a and 109 b is deposited that forms a tunnel diode, i.e. an ohmic circuit element that forms an electrical connection between subcell A to subcell B. Layer 109 a is preferably composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 109 b is preferably composed of n++ GaInP.

On top of the tunnel diode layers 109 a window layer 110 is deposited, preferably n+ GaInP. The advantage of utilizing GaInP as the material constituent of the window layer 110 is that it has an index of refraction that closely matches the adjacent emitter layer 111, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/258,190, filed Oct. 24, 2008. The window layer 110 used in the subcell B also operates to reduce the interface recombination loss. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

On top of the window layer 110 the layers of subcell B are deposited: the n-type emitter layer 111 and the p-type base layer 112. These layers are preferably composed of GaInP and GaIn_(0.0015)As respectively (for a Ge substrate or growth template), or GaInP and GaAs respectively (for a GaAs substrate), although any other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. Thus, subcell B may be composed of a GaAs, GaInP, GaInAs, GaAsSb, or GaInAsN emitter region and a GaAs, GaInAs, GaAsSb, or GaInAsN base region. The doping profile of layers 111 and 112 according to the present disclosure will be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 20B.

In some previously disclosed implementations of an inverted metamorphic solar cell, the middle cell was a homostructure. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, similarly to the structure disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/023,772, the middle subcell becomes a heterostructure with an GaInP emitter and its window is converted from AlInP to GaInP. This modification eliminated the refractive index discontinuity at the window/emitter interface of the middle subcell, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/258,190, filed Oct. 24, 2008. Moreover, the window layer 110 is preferably doped three times that of the emitter 111 to move the Fermi level up closer to the conduction band and therefore create band bending at the window/emitter interface which results in constraining the minority carriers to the emitter layer.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the middle subcell emitter has a band gap equal to the top subcell emitter, and the third subcell emitter has a band gap greater than the band gap of the base of the middle subcell. Therefore, after fabrication of the solar cell, and implementation and operation, neither the emitters of middle subcell B nor the third subcell C will be exposed to absorbable radiation. Substantially all of the photons representing absorbable radiation will be absorbed in the bases of cells B and C, which have narrower band gaps than the emitters. Therefore, the advantages of using heterojunction subcells are: (i) the short wavelength response for both subcells will improve, and (ii) the bulk of the radiation is more effectively absorbed and collected in the narrower band gap base. The effect will be to increase the short circuit current J_(sc).

On top of the cell B is deposited a BSF layer 113 which performs the same function as the BSF layer 109. The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 114 a and 114 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 113, similar to the layers 109 a and 109 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell B to subcell C. The layer 114 a may be composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 114 b may be composed of n++ GaAs or GaInP.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 115, composed of n-type (Al)GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 114 a/I 14 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle and top subcells B and C, or in the direction of growth into the bottom subcell A, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 116 is deposited over the barrier layer 115. Layer 116 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell B to subcell C while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments, the band gap of layer 116 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.5 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell B. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.50 eV or other appropriate band gap. In other embodiments, the graded interlayer is composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains substantially constant at 1.6 eV or approximately 1.6 eV (e.g., in the range of 1.55 eV to 1.65 eV).

In an alternative embodiment where the solar cell has only two subcells, and the “middle” cell B is the uppermost or top subcell in the final solar cell, wherein the “top” subcell B would typically have a band gap of 1.8 to 1.9 eV, then the band gap of the interlayer would remain constant at 1.9 eV.

In the inverted metamorphic structure described in the Wanlass et al. paper cited above, the metamorphic layer consists of nine compositionally graded GaInP steps, with each step layer having a thickness of 0.25 micron. As a result, each layer of Wanlass et al. has a different band gap. In one embodiment of the present invention, the layer 116 is composed of a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs, with monotonically changing lattice constant, each layer having the same band gap, approximately 1.5 eV. In some embodiments, the layer 116 is composed of a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs, with monotonically changing lattice constant, each layer having the same band gap, approximately 1.6 eV.

The advantage of utilizing a constant band gap material such as AlGaInAs is that arsenide-based semiconductor material is much easier to process from a manufacturing standpoint in standard commercial MOCVD reactors than materials incorporating phosphorus, while the small amount of aluminum in the band gap material assures radiation transparency of the metamorphic layers.

Although one embodiment of the present disclosure utilizes a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs for the metamorphic layer 116 for reasons of manufacturability and radiation transparency, other embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize different material systems to achieve a change in lattice constant from subcell B to subcell C. Other embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize continuously graded, as opposed to step graded, materials. More generally, the graded interlayer may be composed of any of the As, P, N, Sb based III-V compound semiconductors subject to the constraints of having the in-plane lattice parameter greater or equal to that of the second solar cell and less than or equal to that of the third solar cell, and having a band gap energy greater than that of the second solar cell.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 117 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 116. The second barrier layer 117 will typically have a different composition than that of barrier layer 115, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating. In one embodiment, barrier layer 117 is n+ type GaInP. Further, each barrier layer in this and other implementations described here, has a composition that differs from the composition of an adjacent graded interlayer and/or adjacent solar subcell layer.

A window layer 118 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the barrier layer 117 (or directly over layer 116, in the absence of a second barrier layer). This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in subcell “C”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

On top of the window layer 118, the layers of cell C are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 119, and the p-type base layer 120. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p+ type GaInAs respectively, or n+ type GaInP and p type GaInAs for a heterojunction subcell, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 119 and 120 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20.

A BSF layer 121, preferably composed of AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell C, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 108 and 113.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 122 a and 122 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 121, similar to the layers 114 a and 114 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell C to subcell D. The layer 122 a is composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 122 b is composed of n++ GaInP.

FIG. 2B depicts a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2A after the next sequence of process steps. In some embodiments a barrier layer 123, preferably composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 122 a/122 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the top and middle subcells A, B and C, or in the direction of growth into the subcell D, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 124 is deposited over the barrier layer 123. Layer 124 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell C to subcell D while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 124 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.1 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell C. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.1 eV or other appropriate band gap. In some implementations, it is advantageous for the band gap of the first graded interlayer 116 to be substantially constant at approximately 1.6 eV and the band gap of the second graded interlayer 124 to be substantially constant at approximately 1.1 eV.

A window layer 125 preferably composed of n+ type AlGaInAs is then deposited over layer 124 (or over a second barrier layer, if there is one, disposed over layer 124,). This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fourth subcell “D”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2C depicts a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2B after the next sequence of process steps. On top of the window layer 125, the layers of cell D are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 126, and the p-type base layer 127. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 126 and 127 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20.

Turning next to FIG. 2D, a BSF layer 128, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell D, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 108, 113 and 121.

Finally a high band gap contact layer 129, preferably composed of p++ type AlGaInAs, is deposited on the BSF layer 128.

The composition of this contact layer 129 located at the bottom (non-illuminated) side of the lowest band gap photovoltaic cell (i.e., subcell “D” in the depicted embodiment) in a multijunction photovoltaic cell, can be formulated to reduce absorption of the light that passes through the cell, so that (i) the backside ohmic metal contact layer below it (on the non-illuminated side) will also act as a mirror layer, and (ii) the contact layer doesn't have to be selectively etched off, to prevent absorption.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2E is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2D after the next process step in which a metal contact layer 130 is deposited over the p+ semiconductor contact layer 129. The metal is the sequence of metal layers Ti/Au/Ag/Au.

Also, the metal contact scheme chosen is one that has a planar interface with the semiconductor, after heat treatment to activate the ohmic contact. This is done so that (1) a dielectric layer separating the metal from the semiconductor doesn't have to be deposited and selectively etched in the metal contact areas; and (2) the contact layer is specularly reflective over the wavelength range of interest.

FIG. 2F is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2E after the next process step in which an adhesive layer 131 is deposited over the metal layer 130. The adhesive may be CR 200 (manufactured by Brewer Science, Inc. of Rolla, Mo.).

In the next process step, a surrogate substrate 132, preferably sapphire, is attached. Alternatively, the surrogate substrate may be GaAs, Ge or Si, or other suitable material. The surrogate substrate is about 40 mils in thickness, and is perforated with holes about 1 mm in diameter, spaced 4 mm apart, to aid in subsequent removal of the adhesive and the substrate. Of course, surrogate substrates with other thicknesses and perforation configurations may be used as well. As an alternative to using an adhesive layer 131, a suitable substrate (e.g., GaAs) may be eutectically or permanently bonded to the metal layer 130.

FIG. 2G is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2F after the next process step in which the original substrate is removed, in one embodiment, by a sequence of lapping and/or etching steps in which the substrate 101, and the buffer layer 103 are removed. The choice of a particular etchant is growth substrate dependent.

As described above, in some implementations, it is particularly advantageous for the band gap of the first graded interlayer 116 to be substantially constant at approximately 1.6 eV (i.e., 1.6 eV±3% or in the range of about 1.55 eV to 1.65 eV) and the band gap of the second graded interlayer 124 to be substantially constant at approximately 1.1 eV (i.e., in the range of 1.05 eV to 1.15 eV).

Four-junction IMM solar cell devices, each of which included two different graded interlayers, were fabricated by an IMM growth process. The devices included the following semiconductor layers deposited over one another: an upper solar subcell (A) of GaInP₂ having a band gap of 1.9 eV; a second solar subcell (B) of GaAs having a band gap of 1.41 eV; a first graded interlayer of InGaAlAs below the second subcell; a third solar subcell (C) of In_(0.285)Ga_(0.715)As having a band gap of 1.02 eV; a second graded interlayer of InGaAlAs below the third subcell; and a lower solar subcell (D) of In_(0.57)Ga_(0.43)As having a band gap of 0.67 eV. The devices included a GaAs substrate having a band gap of 1.41 eV. In each sample, the band gap of the first graded interlayer was substantially constant at about 1.4 eV, 1.5 eV or 1.6 eV, whereas the band gap of the second graded interlayer was substantially constant at about 1.0 eV, 1.1 eV or 1.2 eV. The higher band gap graded interlayer was disposed between the 1.41 eV and 1.02 eV junctions, and the lower band gap graded interlayer was disposed between the 1.02 eV and the 0.67 eV junctions. Solar cells with the following band gap combinations were processed into working devices:

Combination ID: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Band gap (eV) of 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.6 first grading interlayer: Band gap (eV) of 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 second grading interlayer:

The performance of the cells was measured, and the cell conversion efficiency was calculated, as indicated by FIG. 26.

The comparative test data of FIG. 26 indicate that the optimal combination of band gaps for the first and second graded interlayers occurs when the band gap of the first graded interlayer is in the range of about 1.5 eV-1.6 eV, and the band gap of the second graded interlayer is approximately 1.1 eV (i.e., combination IDs 5 and 6). These particular combination of band gaps provides a relatively large increase in conversion efficiency. This is advantageous, particularly in the field of solar cell devices in which even smaller improvements in conversion efficiency are typically considered significant. Of particular surprise is the significant improvement in conversion efficiency obtained for devices in which the first graded interlayer has a band gap of 1.6 eV and the second graded interlayer has a band gap of 1.1 eV. The combination of 1.6 eV and 1.1 eV band gaps for the graded interlayers can be advantageous for multi-junctions devices, including five-junction and six-junction devices as well as for three-junction and four-junction devices. In general, it can be advantageous for the first graded interlayer to have a band gap of 1.6 eV (±3%) and the second graded interlayer to have a band gap of 1.1 eV (±3%).

In some implementations, forming a particular one of the graded interlayers includes selecting an interlayer composed of InGaAlAs, and identifying a set of compositions of the formula (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As defined by specific values of x and y, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1, each composition having the same particular band gap (e.g., a particular value in the range 1.6 eV±3% eV for the first graded interlayer or a particular value in the range 1.1 eV±3% eV for the second graded interlayer). Forming a particular graded interlayer also can include identifying appropriate lattice constants for either side of the graded interlayer so that they match, respectively, the adjacent solar subcells. Forming a particular graded interlayer further can include identifying a subset of compositions of the formula (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As having the particular band gap that are defined by specific values of x and y, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1, wherein the subset of compositions have lattice constants ranging from the identified lattice constant that matches the solar subcell on one side of the graded interlayer to the identified lattice constant that matches the solar subcell on the opposing side of the graded interlayer.

In some instances, one or more of the steps can be performed by a computer program. For example, identifying a set of compositions of the formula (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As defined by specific values of x and y, each composition having the same particular band gap (e.g., a particular value in the range 1.6 eV±3% eV), can include using a computer program. Likewise, identifying a subset of compositions of the formula (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As having the particular band gap that are defined by specific values of x and y, wherein the subset of compositions have lattice constants ranging from the identified lattice constant that matches the solar subcell on one side of the graded interlayer to the identified lattice constant that matches the solar subcell on the opposing side of the graded interlayer, can include using a computer program.

The fabrication method can include precisely controlling and incrementally adjusting a mole fraction of each of indium (In), gallium (Ga) and aluminum (Al) to form a continuously graded interlayer as the first, second or other graded interlayer. Forming a particular one of the graded interlayers also can include providing a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system configured to independently control the flow of source gases for gallium, indium, aluminum, and arsenic, and selecting a reaction time, a temperature and a flow rate for each source gas to form a continuously graded interlayer as the particular graded interlayer.

FIG. 2H is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 2G with the orientation with the surrogate substrate 132 being at the bottom of the Figure. Subsequent Figures in this application will assume such orientation.

Five Junction Solar Cell with Two Metamorphic Layers

FIG. 3A through 3B depicts the sequence of steps in forming a multijunction solar cell in an embodiment according to the present disclosure in which a five junction solar cell with two metamorphic buffer layers is fabricated.

FIG. 3A depicts the initial sequence of steps in forming a multijunction solar cell in an embodiment according to the present disclosure in which the first three cells of one embodiment of a five junction solar cell is fabricated.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 3A in the embodiment after the next sequence of process steps in which the lower two subcells are grown.

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a solar cell in an embodiment of a five junction solar cell with three metamorphic layers.

Turning first to FIG. 3A, the sequential formation of the three subcells A, B and C on a GaAs growth substrate is depicted. More particularly, there is shown a substrate 201, which is preferably gallium arsenide (GaAs), but may also be germanium (Ge) or other suitable material. For GaAs, the substrate is preferably a 15.degree. off-cut substrate, that is to say, its surface is orientated 15.degree. off the (100) plane towards the (111)A plane, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/047,944, filed Mar. 13, 2008.

In the case of a Ge substrate, a nucleation layer (not shown) is deposited directly on the substrate 201. On the substrate, or over the nucleation layer (in the case of a Ge substrate), a buffer layer 202 and an etch stop layer 203 are further deposited. In the case of GaAs substrate, the buffer layer 202 is preferably GaAs. In the case of Ge substrate, the buffer layer 202 is preferably GaInAs. A contact layer 204 of GaAs is then deposited on layer 203, and a window layer 205 of AlInP is deposited on the contact layer. The subcell A, which will be the upper first solar subcell of the structure, consisting of an n+ emitter layer 206 and a p-type base layer 207, is then epitaxially deposited on the window layer 205. The subcell A is generally lattice matched to the growth substrate 201.

It should be noted that the multijunction solar cell structure could be formed by any suitable combination of group III to V elements listed in the periodic table subject to lattice constant and band gap requirements, wherein the group III includes boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and thallium (T). The group IV includes carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and tin (Sn). The group V includes nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), and bismuth (Bi).

In one embodiment, the emitter layer is composed of AlGaInP and the base layer 207 is composed of AlGaInP, and thus the p/n junction of this subcell is a homojunction. More particularly, the emitter layer 206 is composed of two regions: an n+ type emitter region 206 a directly grown on the window layer 205, and an n type emitter region 206 b directly grown on the emitter region 206 a. The doping profile of the different emitter regions 206 a and 206 b, and base layer 207 according to the present disclosure will be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 20A.

In some embodiments, a spacer layer 206 c composed of unintentionally doped AlGaInP is then grown directly on top of the n type emitter region 206 b.

The base layer 207 is composed of AlGaInP is grown over the spacer layer 206 c.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the base layer 207 is 1.92 eV or greater.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the base of the upper first solar subcell is equal to or greater than 2.05 eV.

In some embodiments, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is composed of a first region in which the doping is graded from 3.times.10.sup.18 to 1.times.10.sup.18 free carriers per cubic centimeter, and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant at 1.times.10.sup.17 free carriers per cubic centimeter.

In some embodiments, the first region of the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is directly adjacent to a window layer.

In some embodiments, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of 80 nm.

In some embodiments, the base of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of less than 400 nm.

In some embodiments, the base of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of 260 nm.

In some embodiments, the emitter section of the upper first solar subcell has a first region in which the doping is graded, and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant.

Subcell A will ultimately become the “top” subcell of the inverted metamorphic structure after completion of the process steps according to the present invention to be described hereinafter.

On top of the base layer 207 a back surface field (“BSF”) layer 208 preferably p+ AlInP is deposited and used to reduce recombination loss.

The BSF layer 208 drives minority carriers from the region near the base/BSF interface surface to minimize the effect of recombination loss. In other words, the BSF layer 208 reduces recombination loss at the backside of the solar subcell A and thereby reduces the recombination in the base.

On top of the BSF layer 208 a sequence of heavily doped p-type and n-type layers 209 a and 209 b is deposited that forms a tunnel diode, i.e. an ohmic circuit element that forms an electrical connection between subcell A to subcell B. Layer 209 a may be composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 209 b may be composed of n++ GaInP.

On top of the tunnel diode layers 209 a window layer 210 is deposited, which may be n+ AlInP. The advantage of utilizing AlInP as the material constituent of the window layer 210 is that it has an index of refraction that closely matches the adjacent emitter layer 211, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/258,190, filed Oct. 24, 2008. The window layer 210 used in the subcell B also operates to reduce the interface recombination loss. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

On top of the window layer 210 the layers of subcell B are deposited: the n+ type emitter layer 211 and the p-type base layer 212. These layers are composed of AlGaAs and AlGaAs respectively (for a GaAs substrate), although any other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. Thus, subcell B may be composed of a GaAs, GaInP, GaInAs, GaAsSb, or GaInAsN emitter region and a GaAs, GaInAs, GaAsSb, or GaInAsN base region. The doping profile of layers 211 and 212 according to the present disclosure will be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 20B.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, similarly to the structure disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/023,772, the subcell B may be a heterostructure with an GaInP emitter and its window is converted from AlInP to GaInP. This modification eliminated the refractive index discontinuity at the window/emitter interface of the middle subcell, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/258,190, filed Oct. 24, 2008. Moreover, the window layer 210 is preferably doped three times that of the emitter 211 to move the Fermi level up closer to the conduction band and therefore create band bending at the window/emitter interface which results in constraining the minority carriers to the emitter layer.

On top of the cell B is deposited a BSF layer 213 which performs the same function as the BSF layer 209. The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 214 a and 214 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 213, similar to the layers 209 a and 209 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell B to subcell C. The layer 214 a may be composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 214 b may be composed of n++ GaInP.

A window layer 215 composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the tunnel diode layers 214 a, 214 b. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in subcell “C”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

On top of the window layer 215, the layers of subcell C are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 216, and the p-type base layer 217. These layers are composed of n+ type GaInP and p+ type GaAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 216 and 217 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 27B.

A BSF layer 218, preferably composed of AlGaAs, is then deposited on top of the cell C, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 208 and 213.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 219 a and 219 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 218, similar to the layers 214 a and 214 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell C to subcell D. The layer 219 a is preferably composed of p AlGaAs, and layer 219 b is preferably composed of n++ GaInP.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 3A in a first embodiment of a five junction solar cell after the next sequence of process steps in which the lower two subcells D and E are grown on the initial structure of FIG. 3A.

Turning to FIG. 3B, a sequence of layers 220 through 235 are grown on top of the tunnel diode layers 219 a and 219 b.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 220, composed of n-type (Al)GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 219 a/219 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle subcells B and C, or in the direction of growth into the lower subcell D and E, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A first metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 221 is deposited over the barrier layer 220. Layer 221 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell C to subcell D while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. Stated another way, the layer 221 has a lattice constant on one surface adjacent to subcell C which matches that of subcell C, and a lattice constant on the opposing surface adjacent to subcell D which matches that of subcell D, and a gradation in lattice constant throughout its thickness. In some embodiments, the band gap of layer 221 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.5 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell C. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of Al_(y)(Ga_(x)In_(1-x))_(1-y)As, or alternatively written as (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(1-y)Al_(y)As, with the positive values for x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.50 eV or other appropriate band gap.

In the inverted metamorphic structure described in the Wanlass et al. paper cited above, the metamorphic layer consists of nine compositionally graded GaInP steps, with each step layer having a thickness of 0.25 micron. As a result, each layer of Wanlass et al. has a different band gap. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the layer 221 is composed of a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs, with monotonically changing lattice constant, each layer having the same band gap, approximately 1.5 eV. More particularly, the first graded interlayer 221 is composed of Al_(y)(Ga_(x)In_(1-x))_(1-y)As with the values for x and y between 0 and 1 selected such that the band gap of each sublayer in the interlayer remains constant throughout its thickness.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the first graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV or 1.6 eV throughout the thickness of the first graded interlayer.

Since the present disclosure (and the related applications noted above) are directed to high volume manufacturing processes using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) reactors to form the solar cell epitaxial layers, a short discussion of some of the considerations associated with such processes and methods associated with the formation of the graded interlayer(s) are in order here.

First, it should be noted that the advantage of utilizing an interlayer material such as AlGaInAs is that arsenide-based semiconductor material is much easier to process from a manufacturing standpoint using present state-of-the-art high volume manufacturing metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) reactors than either the AlGaInAsP, or GaInP compounds, or in general any material including phosphorus. Simply stated, the use of a III-V arsenide compound is much more desirable than a III-V phosphide compound from the perspectives of cost, ease of growth, reactor maintenance, waste handling and personal safety.

The cost advantage of the use of the AlGaInAs quaternary grading material relative to a GaInP ternary grading material, as an example, is a consequence of several factors. First, the use of a GaInP grading approach requires indium mole fractions of the order of 60% (i.e., the required material is Ga_(0.04)In_(0.6)P) whereas the use of the AlGaInAs quaternary requires only 15% indium (i.e., the required material is Al_(y)(Ga_(0.85)In_(0.15))_(1-y)As). In addition to the difference in the material itself, there is a further difference in the amount of precursor gases (trimethylgallium, trimethylindium, and arsine) that must be input to the reactor in order to achieve the desired composition. In particular, the ratio of the amount of precursor gases into the reactor to provide Group V elements, to the amount of precursor gases to provide Group III elements (such ratio being referred to as the “input V/III ratio”) is typically five to ten times greater to produce a phosphide compound compared to producing an arsenide compound. As a illustrative quantification of the cost of producing a phosphide compound in a commercial operational MOPVE reactor process compared to the cost of producing an arsenide compound, Table 1 below presents the typical pro-form a costs of each element of the AlGaInAs and GaInP compounds for producing a graded interlayer of the type described in the present disclosure expressed on a per mole basis. Of course, like many commodities, the price of chemical compounds fluctuate from time to time and vary in different geographic locations and countries and from supplier to supplier. The prices used in Table I are representative for purchases in commercial quantities in the United States at the time of the present disclosure. The cost calculations make the assumption (typical for epitaxial processes using current commercial MOVPE reactors) that the input V/III ratios are 20 and 120 for the arsenide and phosphide compounds respectively. Such a choice of value of the ratio is merely illustrative for a typical process, and some processes may use even higher ratios for producing a graded interlayer of the type described in the present disclosure. The practical consequence of the inlet V/III ratio is that one will use 20 moles of As to one (1) mole of AlGaIn in the formation of the Applicant's quaternary material AlGaInAs, or 120 moles of P to 1 mole of Gain in the formation of the interlayer using the ternary material GaInP. These assumptions along with the molar cost of each of the constituent elements indicate that the cost of fabrication of the AlGaInAs based grading interlayer will be approximately 25% of the cost of fabrication of a similar phosphide based grading interlayer. Thus, there is an important economic incentive from a commercial and manufacturing perspective to utilize an arsenide compound as opposed to a phosphide compound for the grading interlayer.

TABLE 1 Cost estimate of one mole of each of the AlGaInAs and GaInP grading layers Cost Molecular Mole Cost Molecular Mole Element MW (gms) S/gm Cost/mole ($) MF AlGaIn of Al.17Ga.68In.15 MF GaInP of Ga.4In.6 Al 27 10.2 275.4 0.17 46.818 0 0 Ga 70 2.68 187.6 0.68 127.568 0.4 75.04 In 115 28.05 3225.75 0.15 483.8625 0.6 1935.45 Approx OM 658.2485 2010.49 Cost/mole = Cost/mole V/III Cost/mole of ($) ratio Cost/mole of Arsenic phosphorus AsH3 $7.56 20   $151.20 $151.20 PH3 $9.49 120 $1,138.80 $1,138.54 Approx $809.45 $3,149.03 cost/molecular mole =

The “ease of growth” of an arsenide compound as opposed to a phosphide compound for the grading interlayer in a high volume manufacturing environment is another important consideration and is closely related to issues of reactor maintenance, waste handling and personal safety. More particularly, in a high volume manufacturing environment the abatement differences between arsenide and phosphide based processes affect both cost and safety. The abatement of phosphorus is more time consuming, and hazardous than that required for arsenic. Each of these compounds builds up over time in the downstream gas flow portions of the MOVPE growth reactor. As such, periodic reactor maintenance for removal of these deposited materials is necessary to prevent adverse affects on the reactor flow dynamics, and thus the repeatability and uniformity of the epitaxial structures grown in the reactor. The difference in handling of these waste materials is significant. Arsenic as a compound is stable in air, non-flammable, and only represents a mild irritant upon skin contact. Phosphorus however, must be handled with considerably more care. Phosphorus is very flammable and produces toxic fumes upon burning and it is only moderately stable in air. Essentially the differences are manifest by the need for special handling and containment materials and procedures when handling phosphorus to prevent either combustion or toxic exposure to this material whereas using common personal protection equipment such as gloves, and a particle respirator easily accommodates the handling of arsenic.

Another consideration related to “ease of growth” that should be noted in connection with the advantages of a AlGaInAs based grading interlayer process compared to a AlGaInAsP compound derives from a frequently encountered issue when using an AlGaInAsP compound: the miscibility gap. A miscibility gap will occur if the enthalpy of mixing exceeds the entropy of mixing of two binary compounds AC and BC, where A, B and C are different elements. It is an established fact that the enthalpies of mixing of all ternary crystalline alloys of the form A_(x)B_(1-x)C, based upon the binary semiconductor forms AC and BC are positive leading to miscibility gaps in these compounds. See, for example, the discussion in reference [1] noted below. In this example, the letters A and B designate group III elements and letter C designates a group V element. As such, mixing of the binary compounds is said to occur on the group III sublattice. However, because OMVPE growth takes place under non-equilibrium conditions, the miscibility gap is not really a practical problem for accessing the entire ternary semiconductor phase space. For the case of quaternary compounds of the form A_(x)B_(1-x)C_(y)D_(1-y) where mixing of the binary alloys, AC, AD, BC, and BD occurs on both the group III and group V sublattices, the immiscibility problem is accentuated. Specifically for the GaP, InP, GaAs, InAs system, the region of immiscibility is quite large at growth temperatures appropriate for the OMVPE technique. See, for example, the discussion in reference [2] noted below. The resulting miscibility gap will prevent one from producing the requisite AlGaInAsP compounds needed for optical transparent grading of the IMM solar cell.

REFERENCES

-   [1] V. A. Elyukhin, E. L. Portnoi, E. A. Avrutin, and J. H.     Marsh, J. Crystal Growth 173 (1997) pp 69-72. -   [2] G. B. Stringfellow, Organometallic Vapor-Phase Epitaxy (Academic     Press, New York 1989).

The fabrication of a step graded (or continuous graded) interlayer in an MOCVD process can be more explicitly described in a sequence of conceptual and operational steps which we describe here for pedagogical clarity. First, the appropriate band gap for the interlayer must be selected. In one of the disclosed embodiments, the desired constant band gap is 1.5 eV; in other embodiments, the desired constant band gap may be, for example, 1.6 eV or 1.1 eV. Second, the most appropriate material system (i.e., the specific semiconductor elements to form a compound semiconductor alloy) must be identified. In the disclosed embodiment, these elements are Al, Ga, In, and As. Third, a computation must be made, for example using a computer program, to identify the class of compounds of Al_(y)(Ga_(x)In_(1-x))_(1-y)As for specific x and y that have a band gap of 1.5 eV. An example of such a computer program output that provides a very rough indication of these compounds is illustrated in FIG. 22. Fourth, based upon the lattice constants of the epitaxial layers adjoining the graded interlayer, a specification of the required lattice constants for the top surface of the interlayer (to match the adjacent semiconductor layer), and the bottom surface of the interlayer (to match the adjacent semiconductor layer) must be made. Fifth, based on the required lattice constants, the compounds of Al_(y)(Ga_(x)In_(1-x))_(1-y)As for specific x and y that have a band gap of 1.5 eV may be identified. Again, a computation must be made, and as an example, the data may be displayed in a graph such as FIG. 21 representing the Al, Ga and In mole fractions versus the Al to In mole fraction in a AlGaInAs material system that is necessary to achieve a constant 1.5 eV band gap. Assuming there is a small number (e.g. typically in the range of seven, eight, nine, ten, etc.) of steps or grades between the top surface and the bottom surface, and that the lattice constant difference between each step is made equal, the bold markings in FIG. 21 represent selected lattice constants for each successive sublayer in the interlayer, and the corresponding mole fraction of Al, Ga and In needed to achieve that lattice constant in that respective sublayer may be readily obtained by reference to the axes of the graph. Thus, based on an analysis of the data in FIG. 21, the reactor may be programmed to introduce the appropriate quantities of precursor gases (as determined by flow rates at certain timed intervals) into the reactor so as to achieve a desired specific Al_(y)(Ga_(x)In_(1-x))_(1-y)As composition in that sublayer so that each successive sublayer maintains the constant band gap of 1.5 eV and a monotonically increasing lattice constant. The execution of this sequence of steps, with calculated and determinate precursor gas composition, flow rate, temperature, and reactor time to achieve the growth of a Al_(y)(Ga_(x)In_(1-x))_(1-y)As composition of the interlayer with the desired properties (lattice constant change over thickness, constant band gap over the entire thickness), in a repeatable, manufacturable process, is not to be minimalized or trivialized.

Although one embodiment of the present disclosure utilizes a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs for the metamorphic layer 221 for reasons of manufacturability and radiation transparency, other embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize different material systems to achieve a change in lattice constant from subcell C to subcell D. Other embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize continuously graded, as opposed to step graded, materials. More generally, the graded interlayer may be composed of any of the As, N, Sb based III-V compound semiconductors subject to the constraints of having the in-plane lattice parameter greater or equal to that of the third solar cell and less than or equal to that of the fourth solar cell, and having a band gap energy greater than that of the third solar cell.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 222 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 221. The second barrier layer 222 will typically have a different composition than that of barrier layer 220, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating. In one embodiment, barrier layer 222 is n+ type GaInP.

A window layer 223 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the second barrier layer, if there is one, disposed over layer 221. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fourth subcell “D”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 223, the layers of cell D are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 224, and the p-type base layer 225. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 224 and 225 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 226, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell D, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 208, 213 and 218.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 227 a and 227 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 226, similar to the layers 214 a/214 b and 219 a/219 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell D to subcell E. The layer 227 a is preferably composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 227 b is preferably composed of n++ GaInP.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 228, preferably composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 227 a/227 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such bather layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle subcells B, C and D, or in the direction of growth into the subcell E, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A second metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 229 is deposited over the bather layer 228. Layer 229 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell D to subcell E while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 229 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.1 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell D. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.1 eV or other appropriate band gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 230 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 229. The second barrier layer 230 performs essentially the same function as the first barrier layer 228 of preventing threading dislocations from propagating. In one embodiment, barrier layer 230 has not the same composition than that of barrier layer 228, i.e. n+ type GaInP.

A window layer 231 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the barrier layer 230. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fifth subcell “E”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 231, the layers of cell E are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 232, and the p-type base layer 233. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well.

The doping profile of layers 232 and 233 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 234, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell E, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 208, 213, 218, and 226.

Finally a high band gap contact layer 235, preferably composed of p++ type AlGaInAs, is deposited on the BSF layer 234.

The composition of this contact layer 235 located at the bottom (non-illuminated) side of the lowest band gap photovoltaic cell (i.e., subcell “E” in the depicted embodiment) in a multijunction photovoltaic cell, can be formulated to reduce absorption of the light that passes through the cell, so that (i) the backside ohmic metal contact layer below it (on the non-illuminated side) will also act as a mirror layer, and (ii) the contact layer doesn't have to be selectively etched off, to prevent absorption.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The subsequent remaining steps in the fabrication of the multijunction solar cell according to the illustrated embodiment, including the deposition of metallization over the contact layer, and the attachment of a surrogate substrate, will be discussed and depicted at a later point in connection with FIG. 7 and subsequent Figures.

Five Junction Solar Cell with Three Metamorphic Layers

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 3A in an embodiment of a five junction solar cell with three metamorphic layers. The layers 201 through 214 b of this embodiment are substantially identical to those discussed in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 3A, and therefore in the interest of brevity of this disclosure, the description of such layers will not be repeated here.

As depicted in FIG. 3C, the embodiment of a five junction solar cell with three metamorphic layers, a sequence of layers 250 through 273 are grown on top of the tunnel diode layers 214 a and 214 b of the structure of FIG. 3A.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 250, composed of n-type (Al)GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 214 a/214 b, to a thickness of about 1.0 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the subcells A and B, or in the direction of growth into the middle subcells C and D, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A first metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 251 is deposited over the barrier layer 250. Layer 251 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell B to subcell C while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. Stated another way, the layer 251 has a lattice constant on one surface adjacent to subcell B which matches that of subcell B, and a lattice constant on the opposing surface adjacent to subcell C which matches that of subcell C, and a gradation in lattice constant throughout its thickness. In some embodiments, the band gap of layer 251 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.5 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell B. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.50 eV or other appropriate band gap.

In the inverted metamorphic structure described in the Wanlass et al. paper cited above, the metamorphic layer consists of nine compositionally graded GaInP steps, with each step layer having a thickness of 0.25 micron. As a result, each layer of Wanlass et al. has a different band gap. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the layer 251 is composed of a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs, with monotonically changing lattice constant, each layer having the same band gap, approximately 1.5 eV.

The advantage of utilizing a constant band gap material such as AlGaInAs is that arsenide-based semiconductor material is much easier to process from a manufacturing standpoint in standard commercial MOCVD reactors than materials incorporating phosphorus, while the small amount of aluminum in the band gap material assures radiation transparency of the metamorphic layers.

Although one embodiment of the present disclosure utilizes a plurality of layers of AlGaInAs for the metamorphic layer 251 for reasons of manufacturability and radiation transparency, other embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize different material systems to achieve a change in lattice constant from subcell B to subcell C. Other embodiments of the present disclosure may utilize continuously graded, as opposed to step graded, materials. More generally, the graded interlayer may be composed of any of the As, N, Sb based III-V compound semiconductors subject to the constraints of having the in-plane lattice parameter greater or equal to that of the second solar subcell and less than or equal to that of the third solar subcellcell, and having a band gap energy greater than that of the third solar cell.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 252 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 251. The second barrier layer 252 will typically have a different composition than that of barrier layer 250, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating. In one embodiment, barrier layer 252 is n+ type GaInP.

A window layer 253 composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the barrier layer 253. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the third subcell “C”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 253, the layers of cell C are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 254, and the p-type base layer 255. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well.

The doping profile of layers 254 and 255 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 256, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell C, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 208, and 213.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 257 a and 257 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 256, similar to the layers 209 a/209 b and 214 a/214 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell C to subcell D. The layer 257 a is preferably composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 257 b is preferably composed of n++ AlGaInAs.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 258, may be composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 257 a/257 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle subcells B and C, or in the direction of growth into the subcell D, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A second metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 259 is deposited over the barrier layer 258. Layer 259 may be a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell C to subcell D while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 259 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.1 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell C. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.1 eV or other appropriate band gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second bather layer 260 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 259. The second barrier layer will typically have a different composition than that of bather layer 258, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating.

A window layer 261 composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the bather layer 260. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the subcell “D”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 260, the layers of cell D are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 262, and the p-type base layer 263. These layers are illustrated as being composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 260 and 261 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 264, may be composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell D, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 208, 213, and 256.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 265 a and 265 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 264, similar to the layers 209 a/209 b, 214 a/214 b, and 257 a/257 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell D to subcell E. The layer 265 a may be composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 265 b may be composed of n++ AlGaInAs.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 266, may be composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 265 a/265 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle subcells B, C and D, or in the direction of growth into the subcell E, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A third metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 267 is deposited over the barrier layer 266. Layer 267 may be a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell D to subcell E while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 267 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.1 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell D. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.1 eV or other appropriate band gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 268 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 267. The second barrier layer is a different alloy than that of bather layer 266, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating.

A window layer 269 preferably composed of n+ type AlGaInAs is then deposited over the second bather layer 268, if there is one disposed over layer 267, or directly over third metamorphic layer 267. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fifth subcell “E”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 269, the layers of cell E are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 270, and the p-type base layer 271. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 270 and 271 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 272, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell E, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 208, 213, 256, and 264.

Finally a high band gap contact layer 273, preferably composed of p++ type AlGaInAs, is deposited on the BSF layer 272.

The composition of this contact layer 273 located at the bottom (non-illuminated) side of the lowest band gap photovoltaic cell (i.e., subcell “E” in the depicted embodiment) in a multijunction photovoltaic cell, can be formulated to reduce absorption of the light that passes through the cell, so that (i) the backside ohmic metal contact layer below it (on the non-illuminated side) will also act as a mirror layer, and (ii) the contact layer doesn't have to be selectively etched off, to prevent absorption.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The subsequent remaining steps in the fabrication of the multijunction solar cell according to the illustrated embodiment, including the deposition of metallization over the contact layer, and the attachment of a surrogate substrate, will be discussed and depicted at a later point in connection with FIG. 7 and subsequent Figures.

Six Junction Solar Cell with Three Metamorphic Layers

FIG. 4 depicts a multijunction solar cell in an embodiment according to the present disclosure in which a six junction solar cell with three metamorphic buffer layers is fabricated.

In particular, FIG. 4 depicts the sequential formation of the six subcells A, B, C, D, E and F on a GaAs growth substrate. The sequence of layers 302 through 314 b that are grown on the growth substrate are similar to layers 102 to 122 b discussed in connection with FIG. 3A, but the description of such layers with new reference numbers will be repeated here for clarity of the presentation.

More particularly, there is shown a substrate 301, which is preferably gallium arsenide (GaAs), but may also be germanium (Ge) or other suitable material. For GaAs, the substrate is preferably a 15.degree. off-cut substrate, that is to say, its surface is orientated 15.degree. off the (100) plane towards the (111)A plane, as more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/047,944, filed Mar. 13, 2008.

In the case of a Ge substrate, a nucleation layer (not shown) is deposited directly on the substrate 301. On the substrate, or over the nucleation layer (in the case of a Ge substrate), a buffer layer 302 and an etch stop layer 303 are further deposited. In the case of GaAs substrate, the buffer layer 302 is preferably GaAs. In the case of Ge substrate, the buffer layer 302 is preferably GaInAs. A contact layer 304 of GaAs is then deposited on layer 303, and a window layer 305 of AlInP is deposited on the contact layer. The subcell A, which will be the upper first solar subcell of the structure, consisting of an n+ emitter layer 306 a and 306 b and a p-type base layer 307, is then epitaxially deposited on the window layer 305. The subcell A is generally lattice matched to the growth substrate 301.

It should be noted that the multijunction solar cell structure could be formed by any suitable combination of group III to V elements listed in the periodic table subject to lattice constant and band gap requirements, wherein the group III includes boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and thallium (T). The group IV includes carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and tin (Sn). The group V includes nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), and bismuth (Bi).

In one embodiment, the emitter layer is composed of AlGaInP and the base layer 307 is composed of AlGaInP, and thus the p/n junction of this subcell is a homojunction. More particularly, the emitter layer is composed of two regions: an n+ type emitter region 306 a directly grown on the window layer 305, and an n type emitter region 306 b directly grown on the emitter region 306 a. The doping profile of the different emitter regions 306 a and 306 b, and base layer 307 according to the present disclosure will be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 20A.

In some embodiments, a spacer layer 306 c composed of unintentionally doped AlGaInP is then grown directly on top of the n type emitter region 306 b.

The base layer 307 is composed of AlGaInP is grown over the spacer layer 306 c.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the base layer 307 is 1.92 eV or greater.

In some embodiments, the band gap of the base of the upper first solar subcell is equal to or greater than 2.05 eV.

In some embodiments, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is composed of a first region in which the doping is graded from 3.times.10.sup.18 to 1.times.10.sup.18 free carriers per cubic centimeter, and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant at 1.times.10.sup.17 free carriers per cubic centimeter.

In some embodiments, the first region of the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is directly adjacent to a window layer.

In some embodiments, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of 80 nm.

In some embodiments, the base of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of less than 400 nm.

In some embodiments, the base of the upper first solar subcell has a thickness of 260 nm.

In some embodiments, the emitter section of the upper first solar subcell has a first region in which the doping is graded, and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant.

Subcell A will ultimately become the “top” subcell of the inverted metamorphic structure after completion of the process steps according to the present invention to be described hereinafter.

On top of the base layer 307 a back surface field (“BSF”) layer 308 preferably p+ AlInP is deposited and used to reduce recombination loss.

The BSF layer 308 drives minority carriers from the region near the base/BSF interface surface to minimize the effect of recombination loss. In other words, the BSF layer 308 reduces recombination loss at the backside of the solar subcell A and thereby reduces the recombination in the base.

On top of the BSF layer 308 a sequence of heavily doped p-type and n-type layers 309 a and 309 b is deposited that forms a tunnel diode, i.e. an ohmic circuit element that forms an electrical connection between subcell A to subcell B. Layer 309 a may be composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 309 b may be composed of n++ GaInP.

On top of the tunnel diode layers 309 a window layer 310 is deposited, which may be n+ AlInP. The window layer 310 used in the subcell B also operates to reduce the interface recombination loss. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

On top of the window layer 310 the layers of subcell B are deposited: the n+ type emitter layer 311 and the p-type base layer 312. These layers are preferably composed of AlGaAs and AlGaAs respectively, although any other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. Thus, subcell B may be composed of a GaAs, GaInP, GaInAs, GaAsSb, or GaInAsN emitter region and a GaAs, GaInAs, GaAsSb, or GaInAsN base region. The doping profile of layers 311 and 312 according to the present disclosure will be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 20B.

On top of the cell B is deposited a BSF layer 313 which performs the same function as the BSF layer 308. The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 314 a and 314 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 308, similar to the layers 309 a and 309 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell B to subcell C. The layer 314 a may be composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 314 b may be composed of n++ GaInP.

A window layer 315 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the tunnel diode layers 314 a/314 b. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in subcell “C”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

On top of the window layer 315, the layers of subcell C are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 316, and the p-type base layer 317. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInP and p type GaAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 316 and 317 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 318, preferably composed of AlGaAs, is then deposited on top of the cell C, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 308 and 313.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 319 a and 319 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 318, similar to the layers 314 a and 314 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell C to subcell D. The layer 319 a is preferably composed of p++ AlGaAs, and layer 319 b may be composed of n++ GaAs.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 320, preferably composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 319 a/319 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the top and middle subcells A, B and C, or in the direction of growth into the subcell D, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A first metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 321 is deposited over the barrier layer 320. Layer 321 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell C to subcell D while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 321 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.5 eV, approximately 1.6 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell C. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.5 eV, approximately 1.6 eV, or other appropriate band gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 322 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 321. The second barrier layer 322 will typically have a different composition than that of barrier layer 320, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating. In one embodiment, barrier layer 322 is n+ type GaInP.

A window layer 323 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the second bather layer, if there is one, disposed over layer 322. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fourth subcell “D”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 323, the layers of cell D are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 324, and the p-type base layer 325. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 324 and 325 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 326, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell D, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 308, 313, and 318.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 327 a and 327 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 326, similar to the layers 309 a/309 b, and 319 a/319 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell D to subcell E. The layer 327 a is preferably composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 327 b is preferably composed of n++ GaInP.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 328, preferably composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 327 a/327 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such barrier layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle subcells B, C and D, or in the direction of growth into the subcell E, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A second metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 329 is deposited over the bather layer 328. Layer 329 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell D to subcell E while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 329 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.5 eV, approximately 1.6 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell D. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.5 eV approximately 1.6 eV, or other appropriate band gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer 330 may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 329. The second barrier layer will typically have a different composition than that of barrier layer 328, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating.

A window layer 331 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the second barrier layer 330, if there is one disposed over layer 329, or directly over second metamorphic layer 329. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fifth subcell “E”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 331, the layers of cell E are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 332, and the p-type base layer 333. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 332 and 333 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 334, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell D, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 308, 313, 318, and 326.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 335 a and 335 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 334, similar to the layers 309 a/309 b, and 319 a/319 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell E to subcell F. The layer 335 a is preferably composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 335 b is preferably composed of n++ GaInP.

In some embodiments a barrier layer 336, preferably composed of n-type GaInP, is deposited over the tunnel diode 335 a/335 b, to a thickness of about 0.5 micron. Such bather layer is intended to prevent threading dislocations from propagating, either opposite to the direction of growth into the middle subcells D and E, or in the direction of growth into the subcell F, and is more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,183, filed Sep. 24, 2007.

A third metamorphic layer (or graded interlayer) 337 is deposited over the bather layer 336. Layer 337 is preferably a compositionally step-graded series of AlGaInAs layers, preferably with monotonically changing lattice constant, so as to achieve a gradual transition in lattice constant in the semiconductor structure from subcell D to subcell E while minimizing threading dislocations from occurring. In some embodiments the band gap of layer 258 is constant throughout its thickness, preferably approximately equal to 1.1 eV, or otherwise consistent with a value slightly greater than the band gap of the middle subcell D. One embodiment of the graded interlayer may also be expressed as being composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As, with x and y selected such that the band gap of the interlayer remains constant at approximately 1.1 eV or other appropriate band gap.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional second barrier layer (not shown) may be deposited over the AlGaInAs metamorphic layer 337. The second bather layer will typically be a different alloy than that of barrier layer 336, and performs essentially the same function of preventing threading dislocations from propagating.

A window layer 338 preferably composed of n+ type AlGaInAs is then deposited over the second bather layer, if there is one disposed over layer 337, or directly over second metamorphic layer 337. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the sixth subcell “F”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 338, the layers of cell F are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 339, and the p-type base layer 340. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInAs and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well.

The doping profile of layers 339 and 340 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 341, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell F, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 308, 313, 326, and 334.

Finally a high band gap contact layer 342, preferably composed of p++ type AlGaInAs, is deposited on the BSF layer 341.

The composition of this contact layer 342 located at the bottom (non-illuminated) side of the lowest band gap photovoltaic cell (i.e., subcell “F” in the depicted embodiment) in a multijunction photovoltaic cell, can be formulated to reduce absorption of the light that passes through the cell, so that (i) the backside ohmic metal contact layer below it (on the non-illuminated side) will also act as a mirror layer, and (ii) the contact layer doesn't have to be selectively etched off, to prevent absorption.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The subsequent remaining steps in the fabrication of the multijunction solar cell according to the illustrated embodiment, including the deposition of metallization over the contact layer, and the attachment of a surrogate substrate, will be discussed and depicted at a later point in connection with FIG. 7 and subsequent Figures.

Five Junction Solar Cell with One Metamorphic Layer

FIG. 5 depicts a multijunction solar cell in an embodiment according to the present disclosure in which a five junction solar cell with one metamorphic buffer layer is fabricated.

FIG. 5 depicts the sequential formation of the five subcells A, B, C, D, and E on a GaAs growth substrate. The layers 401 through 423 of this embodiment are substantially identical to layers 201 through 223 discussed in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 3B, and therefore in the interest of brevity of this disclosure, the description of such layers will not be repeated here.

On top of the window layer 423, the layers of cell D are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 424, and the p-type base layer 425. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInP and p type AlGaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 424 and 425 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 426, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell D, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 408,413 and 418.

The p++/n++ tunnel diode layers 427 a and 427 b respectively are deposited over the BSF layer 426, similar to the layers 414 a/414 b and 419 a/419 b, forming an ohmic circuit element to connect subcell D to subcell E. The layer 427 a is composed of p++ AlGaInAs, and layer 427 b is composed of n++ AlGaInAs.

A window layer 428 preferably composed of n+ type GaInP is then deposited over the tunnel diode layers 427 a and 427 b. This window layer operates to reduce the recombination loss in the fifth subcell “E”. It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that additional layers may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

On top of the window layer 428, the layers of cell E are deposited: the n+ emitter layer 429, and the p-type base layer 430. These layers are preferably composed of n+ type GaInP and p type GaInAs respectively, although other suitable materials consistent with lattice constant and band gap requirements may be used as well. The doping profile of layers 429 and 430 will be discussed in connection with FIG. 20B.

A BSF layer 431, preferably composed of p+ type AlGaInAs, is then deposited on top of the cell E, the BSF layer performing the same function as the BSF layers 408, 413, 418, and 426.

Finally a high band gap contact layer 432, preferably composed of p++ type AlGaInAs, is deposited on the BSF layer 431.

The composition of this contact layer 432 located at the bottom (non-illuminated) side of the lowest band gap photovoltaic cell (i.e., subcell “E” in the depicted embodiment) in a multijunction photovoltaic cell, can be formulated to reduce absorption of the light that passes through the cell, so that (i) the backside ohmic metal contact layer below it (on the non-illuminated side) will also act as a mirror layer, and (ii) the contact layer doesn't have to be selectively etched off, to prevent absorption.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The subsequent remaining steps in the fabrication of the multijunction solar cell according to the illustrated embodiment, including the deposition of metallization over the contact layer, and the attachment of a surrogate substrate, will be discussed and depicted at a later point in connection with FIG. 7 and subsequent Figures.

Six Junction Solar Cell with Two Metamorphic Layers

FIG. 6 depicts the sequence of steps in forming a multijunction solar cell in an embodiment according to the present disclosure in which a six junction solar cell with two metamorphic buffer layers is fabricated.

FIG. 6 depicts the sequential formation of the six subcells A, B, C, D, E and F on a GaAs growth substrate. The layers 501 through 527 b of this embodiment are substantially identical to layers 301 through 327 b discussed in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 4, and layers 528 through 539 of this embodiment are substantially identical to layers 331 through 342 discussed in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 4, and therefore in the interest of brevity of this disclosure, the description of such layers will not be repeated here.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art, that additional layer(s) may be added or deleted in the cell structure without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The subsequent remaining steps in the fabrication of the multijunction solar cell according to the illustrated embodiment, including the deposition of metallization over the contact layer, and the attachment of a surrogate substrate, will be discussed and depicted at a later point in connection with FIG. 7 and subsequent Figures.

FIG. 7 is a simplified cross-sectional view of the solar cell of either FIG. 2H, 3B, 3C, 4, 5, or 6 depicting just a few of the top layers and lower layers after the next sequence of process steps in which a metallization layer 130 is deposited over the p type contact layer and a surrogate substrate 132 attached using an adhesive or other type of bonding material or layer 131.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 7 after the next sequence of process steps in which the growth substrate 101 is removed.

FIG. 9 is a another cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 8, but here oriented and depicted with the surrogate substrate 132 at the bottom of the figure.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 9 after the next process step in which the buffer layer 102, and the etch stop layer 103 is removed by a HCl/H_(2O) solution.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 10 after the next sequence of process steps in which a photoresist mask (not shown) is placed over the contact layer 104 to form the grid lines 601. As will be described in greater detail below, a photoresist layer is deposited over the contact layer 104, and lithographically patterned with the desired grid pattern. A metal layer is then deposited over the patterned photoresist by evaporation. The photoresist mask is then subsequently lifted off, leaving the finished metal grid lines 601 as depicted in the Figures.

As more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/218,582 filed Jul. 18, 2008, hereby incorporated by reference, the grid lines 601 are preferably composed of a sequence of layers Pd/Ge/Ti/Pd/Au, although other suitable materials and layered sequences may be used as well.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 11 after the next process step in which the grid lines are used as a mask to etch down the surface to the window layer 105 using a citric acid/peroxide etching mixture.

FIG. 13A is a top plan view of a wafer 600 according to the present disclosure in which four solar cells are implemented. The depiction of four cells is for illustration purposes only, and the present disclosure is not limited to any specific number of cells per wafer.

In each cell there are grid lines 601 (more particularly shown in cross-section in FIG. 12), an interconnecting bus line 602, and a contact pad 603. The geometry and number of grid and bus lines and the contact pad are illustrative and the present disclosure is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 13B is a bottom plan view of the wafer according to the present disclosure with four solar cells shown in FIG. 13A.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 12 after the next process step in which an antireflective (ARC) dielectric coating layer 140 is applied over the entire surface of the “top” side of the wafer over the grid lines 601.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 14 after the next process step in one embodiment according to the present disclosure in which first and second annular channels 610 and 611, or portion of the semiconductor structure are etched down to the metal layer 130 using phosphide and arsenide etchants. These channels define a peripheral boundary between the cell and the rest of the wafer, and leave a mesa structure which constitutes the solar cell. The cross-section depicted in FIG. 15 is that as seen from the A-A plane shown in FIG. 16. In one embodiment, channel 610 is substantially wider than that of channel 611.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 15 after the next process step in another embodiment of the present disclosure in which a cover glass 614 is secured to the top of the cell by an adhesive 613. The cover glass 614 preferably covers the entire channel 610, but does not extend to the periphery of the cell near the channel 611. Although the use of a cover glass is one embodiment, it is not necessary for all implementations, and additional layers or structures may also be utilized for providing additional support or environmental protection to the solar cell.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 17 after the next process step of the present disclosure in an embodiment in which the bond layer 131, the surrogate substrate 132 and the peripheral portion 612 of the wafer is entirely removed, breaking off in the region of the channel 611, leaving only the solar cell with the cover glass 614 (or other supporting layers or structures) on the top, and the metal contact layer 130 on the bottom. The metal contact layer 130 forms the backside contact of the solar cell. The surrogate substrate is removed by the use of the Wafer Bond solvent, or other techniques. As noted above, the surrogate substrate includes perforations over its surface that allow the flow of solvent through the surrogate substrate 132 to permit its lift off. The surrogate substrate may be reused in subsequent wafer processing operations.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell of FIG. 18 after the next sequence of process steps in an embodiment in which the solar cell is attached to a support. In some embodiments, the support may be a thin metallic flexible film 140. More particularly, in such embodiments, the metal contact layer 130 may be attached to the flexible film 140 by an adhesive (either metallic or non-metallic), or by metal sputtering evaporation, or soldering. In one embodiment, the thin film 140 may be Kapton™ or another suitable polyimide material which has a metallic layer on the surface adjoining the metal contact layer 130. Reference may be made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/860,142 filed Sep. 24, 2007, depicting utilization of a portion of the metal contact layer 130 as a contact pad for making electrical contact to an adjacent solar cell.

One aspect of some implementations of the present disclosure, such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/637,241, filed Dec. 14, 2009, is that the metallic flexible film 140 has a predetermined coefficient of thermal expansion, and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the semiconductor body closely matches the predetermined coefficient of thermal expansion of the metallic film 140. More particularly, in some embodiments the coefficient of thermal expansion of the metallic film that has a value within 50% of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the adjacent semiconductor material.

In some implementations, the metallic film 141 is a solid metallic foil. In other implementations, the metallic film 141 comprises a metallic layer deposited on a surface of a Kapton or polyimide material. In some implementations, the metallic layer is composed of copper.

In some implementations, the semiconductor solar cell has a thickness of less than 50 microns, and the metallic flexible film 141 has a thickness of approximately 75 microns.

In some implementations, the metal electrode layer may have a coefficient of thermal expansion within a range of 0 to 10 ppm per degree Kelvin different from that of the adjacent semiconductor material of the semiconductor solar cell. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal electrode layer may be in the range of 5 to 7 ppm per degree Kelvin.

In some implementations, the metallic flexible film comprises molybdenum, and in some implementations, the metal electrode layer includes molybdenum.

In some implementations, the metal electrode layer includes a Mo/Ti/Ag/Au, Ti/Mo/Ti/Ag, or Ti/Au/Mo sequence of layers.

FIG. 20A is a graph of a doping profile in the emitter and base layers in the top subcell “A” of the inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cell of the present disclosure. As noted in the description of FIG. 3A, the emitter of the upper first solar subcell is composed of a first region 206 a in which the doping is graded from 3.times.10.sup.18 to 1.times.10.sup.18 free carriers per cubic centimeter, and a second region 206 b directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant at 1.times.10.sup.17 free carriers per cubic centimeter. Adjacent to the second region 206 b is a the first surface of a spacer region 206 c, and adjacent to the second surface of the spacer region is the base layer 108 a.

The specific doping profiles depicted herein (e.g., a linear profile) are merely illustrative, and other more complex profiles may be utilized as would be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20B is a graph of a doping profile in the emitter and base layers in one or more of the other subcells (i.e., other than the top subcell) of the inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cell of the present disclosure. The various doping profiles within the scope of the present disclosure, and the advantages of such doping profiles are more particularly described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/956,069 filed Dec. 13, 2007, herein incorporated by reference. The doping profiles depicted herein are merely illustrative, and other more complex profiles may be utilized as would be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 is a graph representing the Al, Ga and In mole fractions versus the Al to In mole fraction in a AlGaInAs material system that is necessary to achieve a constant 1.5 eV band gap.

FIG. 22 is a diagram representing the relative concentration of Al, In, and Ga in an AlGaInAs material system needed to have a constant band gap with various designated values (ranging from 0.4 eV to 2.1 eV) as represented by curves on the diagram. The range of band gaps of various GaInAlAs materials is represented as a function of the relative concentration of Al, In, and Ga. This diagram illustrates how the selection of a constant band gap sequence of layers of GaInAlAs used in the metamorphic layer may be designed through the appropriate selection of the relative concentration of Al, In, and Ga to meet the different lattice constant requirements for each successive layer. Thus, whether 1.5 eV or 1.1 eV or other band gap value is the desired constant band gap, the diagram illustrates a continuous curve for each band gap, representing the incremental changes in constituent proportions as the lattice constant changes, in order for the layer to have the required band gap and lattice constant.

FIG. 23 is a graph that further illustrates the selection of a constant band gap sequence of layers of GaInAlAs used in the metamorphic layer by representing the Ga mole fraction versus the Al to In mole fraction in GaInAlAs materials that is necessary to achieve a constant 1.51 eV band gap.

FIG. 24 is a graph that depicts the current and voltage characteristics of two test multijunction solar cells fabricated according to the present disclosure. The current and voltage characteristics of the first test solar cell, is shown in solid lines. In the first test cell, the emitter of the top solar subcell is composed of a first region in which the doping is graded from 3.times.10.sup.18 to 1.times.10.sup.18 free carriers per cubic centimeter, and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant at 1.times.10.sup.17 free carriers per cubic centimeter, as depicted in the solar cell of FIG. 3A. The current and voltage characteristics of the second test solar cell, is shown in dashed lines ( - - - ). In the second test solar cell, the emitter of the top solar subcell is composed of a first region in which the doping is graded from 3 to 1.times.10.sup.18/cm.sup.3 and a second region directly disposed over the first region in which the doping is constant at 1.times.10.sup.18/cm.sup.3, as is representative of the solar cell depicted in FIG. 2A and others described in the parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/271,192 filed Nov. 14, 2008.

FIG. 25 is a graph that depicts the measured external quantum efficiency (EQE) as a function of wavelength of the two test multijunction solar cells noted in FIG. 24 above. The external quantum efficiency of the first test solar cell, is shown in a dashed line. The external quantum efficiency of the second test solar cell, is shown in a solid line ( - - - ) A comparison of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements shown in FIG. 25 indicate that the EQE was substantially higher in the wavelength range from 350 nm to 600 nm for the first test solar cell compared with that of the second test solar cell.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, also may find a useful application in other types of structures or constructions differing from the types of structures or constructions described above.

Although described embodiments of the present disclosure utilizes a vertical stack of four, five, or six subcells, various aspects and features of the present disclosure can apply to stacks with fewer or greater number of subcells, i.e. two junction cells, three junction cells, seven junction cells, etc. Thus, stacks of three or more subcells can include two or more metamorphic grading interlayers, each of which provides a transition in lattice constant between lattice mismatched subcells. Further, in some cases (e.g., in the case of seven or more junction cells), the use of more than two metamorphic grading interlayer may also be utilized.

In addition, although the disclosed embodiments are configured with top and bottom electrical contacts, the subcells may alternatively be contacted by means of metal contacts to laterally conductive semiconductor layers between the subcells. Such arrangements may be used to form 3-terminal, 4-terminal, and in general, n-terminal devices. The subcells can be interconnected in circuits using these additional terminals such that most of the available photogenerated current density in each subcell can be used effectively, leading to high efficiency for the multijunction cell, notwithstanding that the photogenerated current densities are typically different in the various subcells.

As noted above, the solar cell described in the present disclosure may utilize an arrangement of one or more, or all, homojunction cells or subcells, i.e., a cell or subcell in which the p-n junction is formed between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor both of which have the same chemical composition and the same band gap, differing only in the dopant species and types, and one or more heterojunction cells or subcells. Subcell A, with p-type and n-type GaInP is one example of a homojunction subcell. Alternatively, as more particularly described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/023,772 filed Jan. 31, 2008, the solar cell of the present disclosure may utilize one or more, or all, heterojunction cells or subcells, i.e., a cell or subcell in which the p-n junction is formed between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor having different chemical compositions of the semiconductor material in the n-type regions, and/or different band gap energies in the p-type regions, in addition to utilizing different dopant species and type in the p-type and n-type regions that form the p-n junction.

In some cells, a thin so-called “intrinsic layer” may be placed between the emitter layer and base layer, with the same or different composition from either the emitter or the base layer. The intrinsic layer may function to suppress minority-carrier recombination in the space-charge region. Similarly, either the base layer or the emitter layer may also be intrinsic or not-intentionally-doped (“NID”) over part or all of its thickness.

The composition of the window or BSF layers may utilize other semiconductor compounds, subject to lattice constant and band gap requirements, and may include AlInP, AlAs, AlP, AlGaInP, AlGaAsP, AlGaInAs, AlGaInPAs, GaInP, GaInAs, GaInPAs, AlGaAs, AlInAs, AlInPAs, GaAsSb, AlAsSb, GaAlAsSb, AlInSb, GaInSb, AlGaInSb, AlN, GaN, InN, GaInN, AlGaInN, GaInNAs, AlGaInNAs, ZnSSe, CdSSe, and similar materials, and still fall within the spirit of the present invention.

While the solar cell described in the present disclosure has been illustrated and described as embodied in an inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cell, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Thus, while the description of the semiconductor device described in the present disclosure has focused primarily on solar cells or photovoltaic devices, persons skilled in the art know that other optoelectronic devices, such as thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, photodetectors and light-emitting diodes (LEDS), are very similar in structure, physics, and materials to photovoltaic devices with some minor variations in doping and the minority carrier lifetime. For example, photodetectors can be the same materials and structures as the photovoltaic devices described above, but perhaps more lightly-doped for sensitivity rather than power production. On the other hand LEDs can also be made with similar structures and materials, but perhaps more heavily-doped to shorten recombination time, thus radiative lifetime to produce light instead of power. Therefore, this invention also applies to photodetectors and LEDs with structures, compositions of matter, articles of manufacture, and improvements as described above for photovoltaic cells.

Without further analysis, from the foregoing others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the present invention for various applications. Such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A multijunction solar cell comprising: an upper portion including at least one solar subcell; a first graded interlayer composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As with a step graded changing lattice constant, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1, and wherein the first graded interlayer has a band gap in a range of 1.5 eV-1.65 eV that is constant throughout its thickness; a middle portion including at least one solar subcell, the first graded interlayer providing a transition in lattice constant between a particular solar subcell in the upper portion and a particular solar subcell in the middle portion that is lattice mismatched to the particular solar subcell in the upper portion; a second graded interlayer composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As with step graded changing lattice constant, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1, and wherein the second graded interlayer has a band gap in a range of 1.1 eV+3% that is constant throughout its thickness; and a lower portion including at least one solar subcell, the second graded interlayer providing a transition in lattice constant between a specific solar subcell in the middle portion and a specific solar subcell in the lower portion that is lattice mismatched to the specific solar subcell in the middle portion.
 2. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the upper portion of the multijunction solar cell includes: a first upper solar subcell; and a second solar subcell disposed between the first upper solar subcell and the first graded interlayer.
 3. The multijunction solar cell of claim 2 wherein the first upper solar subcell includes a GaInP emitter layer and an (Al)GaInP base layer.
 4. The multijunction solar cell of claim 3 wherein an amount of aluminum in the base layer of the first upper solar subcell is in a range of 0% to 30%.
 5. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 including a respective barrier layer adjacent at least one of the first graded interlayer or the second graded interlayer, wherein the respective barrier layer prevents propagation of threading dislocations into adjacent ones of the solar subcells, wherein each barrier layer has a composition that differs from a composition of an adjacent graded interlayer or an adjacent solar subcell layer.
 6. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 including a first barrier layer adjacent one side of the first graded interlayer and a second barrier layer adjacent a second side of the first graded interlayer, wherein the barrier layers prevent propagation of threading dislocations into adjacent ones of the solar subcells, the second barrier layer being composed of a material different from the first barrier layer, wherein each barrier layer has a composition that differs from a composition of an adjacent graded interlayer or an adjacent solar subcell layer.
 7. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the middle portion of the multijunction solar cell includes a homojunction solar subcell including a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer.
 8. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the middle portion of the multijunction solar cell includes a heterojunction solar subcell including a GaInP emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer.
 9. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the lower portion of the multijunction solar cell includes a solar subcell including a GaInAs emitter layer and a GaInAs base layer.
 10. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the upper portion of the multijunction solar cell includes: an upper solar subcell; a middle solar subcell disposed below the upper solar subcell; and a lower solar subcell disposed below the middle solar subcell, wherein the lower solar subcell is closer to the first graded interlayer than the upper solar subcell.
 11. The multijunction solar cell of claim 10 wherein the upper solar subcell of the upper portion includes an AlGaInP emitter and an AlGaInP base.
 12. The multijunction solar cell of claim 11 wherein the middle solar subcell of the upper portion includes an AlGaAs emitter and an AlGaAs base.
 13. The multijunction solar cell of claim 12 wherein the lower solar subcell of the upper portion includes a GaInP emitter and a GaAs base.
 14. The multijunction solar cell of claim 10 further including at least one barrier layer adjacent the first graded interlayer and at least one barrier layer adjacent the second graded interlayer, wherein the barrier layers prevent propagation of threading dislocations into adjacent ones of the solar subcells, wherein each barrier layer has a composition that differs from a composition of an adjacent graded interlayer or an adjacent solar subcell layer.
 15. The multijunction solar cell of claim 10 further including: a first barrier layer adjacent one side of the first graded interlayer; a second barrier layer adjacent a second side of the first graded interlayer, a third barrier layer adjacent one side of the second the graded interlayer, a fourth barrier layer adjacent a second side of the second graded interlayer; wherein the barrier layers prevent propagation of threading dislocations into adjacent ones of the solar subcells, and wherein each barrier layer has a composition that differs from a composition of an adjacent graded interlayer or an adjacent solar subcell layer.
 16. The multijunction solar cell of claim 10 wherein: the middle portion of the multijunction solar cell includes a solar subcell that has a GaInAs emitter and a GaInAs base, and the lower portion of the multijunction solar cell includes a solar subcell that has a GaInAs emitter and a GaInAs base.
 17. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the upper portion of the multijunction solar cell includes a solar subcell having an emitter in which a first region has a doping that is graded and in which a second region has a doping that is constant, the second region being directly disposed over the first region.
 18. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the lower portion of the multijunction solar cell further includes a third graded interlayer that provides a transition in lattice constant between two solar subcells in the lower portion that are lattice mismatched to one another.
 19. The multijunction solar cell of claim 1 wherein the upper portion of the multijunction solar cell includes: an upper solar subcell; a middle solar subcell disposed below the upper solar subcell; and a lower solar subcell disposed below the middle solar subcell, wherein the lower solar subcell is closer to the first graded interlayer than the upper solar subcell; and wherein the lower portion of the multijunction solar cell further includes a third graded interlayer that provides a transition in lattice constant between two solar subcells in the lower portion that are lattice mismatched to one another.
 20. The multijunction solar cell of claim 19 wherein the third graded interlayer is composed of (In_(x)Ga_(1-x))_(y)Al_(1-y)As with step graded changing lattice constant, wherein 0<x<1 and 0<y<1. 